Profile – Laura Gazan
Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
Hi, I’m Laura, and I’m 29 years old. I work as a nursing assistant at a nursing home in Allevard, between Grenoble and Chambéry. On my days off, I spent several years driving paragliders around—until I decided I wanted to try flying myself. Since then, I’ve been taking every opportunity to get up in the air. Besides paragliding, I’m also passionate about ski touring and hiking—two activities that often take me out to explore the nearby mountains.
When and how did you learn to paraglide?
I discovered paragliding through some friends. For a long time, I mostly practiced on the ground with them—practicing inflation and flying on the training slope—when conditions didn’t allow them to take off. Since I was often just driving them back and forth, I never really took the plunge to fly on my own.
That changed in August 2024. One day, I decided to walk into the school in Allevard to let them know that I finally wanted to take my first flights. The instructor, who already knew me, suggested I spend an entire afternoon practicing independent paraglider setup to see where I stood. And the very next day, I took my first splashes.
In May 2025, I took my first advanced training course in Ceillac, and then I finally bought my own gear so I could fly on my own. That’s really when the adventure began. As soon as I had a chance, I’d go flying.
I made progress pretty quickly, and in October 2025 I even entered my first hike & fly competition, the Chartreuse Xplouf. I didn’t have the ideal gear and I didn’t win, but it pushed me to go beyond my limits and made me love paragliding even more.
What are your plans outside of paragliding?
As for my professional life, I would like to leave the nursing home to work
as a nursing assistant at the university hospital.
Where can we follow your adventures?
You can find me on Instagram! @lau_parapente
